Geography

Vanuatu is an
archipelago of 83 islands lying between New Caledonia and Fiji in the South
Pacific. Largest of the islands is Espiritu Santo (875 sq mi; 2,266 sq km);
others are Efate, Malekula, Malo, Pentecost, and Tanna.

Government

Republic.

History

The first settlers are
believed to have arrived approximately 3,500 years ago from New Guinea and
the Solomon Islands by canoe. The islands were sighted by Pedro Fernandes de
Queiros of Portugal in 1606 and were charted by the British navigator James
Cook in 1774, who named the archipelago New Hebrides, after the northern
Scottish islands. Competing British and French claims to the islands led to
the formation of a condominium government, allowing for joint British-French
rule in 1906. The islands' plantation economy, based on imported Vietnamese
labor, was prosperous until the 1920s, when markets for its products
declined. Diseases brought by missionaries, sandalwood traders, and others
helped reduce the population from approximately 1 million in 1800 to 45,000
in 1935. The islands served as a major Allied base in World War II. After
the war, the indigenous Melanesians began lobbying for independence, which
in 1980 the country achieved. It was then renamed Vanuatu.

A brief
rebellion by French settlers and plantation workers on Espiritu Santo took
place in May 1980. Britain, France, and Papua New Guinea sent soldiers, who
quelled the revolt, which the new government said was financed by the
Phoenix Foundation, a right-wing U.S. group.

In July 2002, former
prime minister Barak Sope was convicted of forgery. Alfred Maseng was
elected president in April 2004, but he was forced to step down when his
criminal record was revealed. In Aug. 2004, Kalkot Mataskelekele was
selected from 16 candidates as the new president. He is the country's first
president to hold a university degree.

Prime Minister's Leadership Challenged in Court

Serge Vohor was elected prime minister in the summer of 2004. His tenure was brief; he was ousted in a vote of no confidence by Parliament in November after a controversial attempt to establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan. He was succeeded by Ham Lini. In elections in September 2008, the Vanuaaku Pati, led by Edward Natapei, won the most seats in Parliament. Natapei formed a coalition government and became prime minister. In November 2009, the Speaker of the House stripped Natapei of his seat in Parliament and thus disqualified him to serve as prime minister after Natapei did not show up for three consecutive meetings of Parliament and failed to submit paperwork explaining his absences. However, Vanuatu's chief justice ruled that the move was unconstitutional, and Natapei then survived a no confidence vote and remained in office.

Natapei suffered another test of his leadership when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2010. Sato Kilman, the deputy prime minister, assumed the position. Natapei brought the case to the Supreme Court, which ruled on June 16, 2011, that the election of Sato Kilman was unconstitutional and installed Natapei as acting prime minister.

During Natapei's brief time as prime minister, he cancelled diplomatic recognition of Abkhazia,
an order that Kilman had issued during his short period in charge. Then on June 26, 2011, Natapei's interim as prime minister ended. Parliament elected Sato Kilman as prime minister.

Lacking a Majority, Prime Minister Kilman Resigns

On March 21, 2013, Prime Minister Sato Kilman resigned. The previous day, Minister for Ni-Vanuatu Business Marcellino Pipite and Minister of Justice and Social Welfare Thomas Laken joined the Opposition in Parliament. Six government officials followed, leaving Kilman without the needed majority to continue to govern.

Kilman resigned before a no confidence motion was brought against him. He remained in charge of the interim government until his successor was named. On March 23, 2013, Moana Carcasses Kalosil became prime minister. A member of the Green Confederation party, Kalosil was the first naturalized citizen of Vanuatu to become prime minister.

Kalosil lost a no-confidence vote in Vanuatu's parliament by 35-11 votes in May 2014. That same month, Vanua'aku Pati party member Joe Natuman took over as prime minister.

In Sept. 2014, Anglican priest Baldwin Lonsdale was elected president by an electoral college made up of governors and members of parliament. The election was the longest in Vanuatu's history, lasting eight rounds before a candidate had a majority because of the conflict between Prime Minister Natuman's government and the opposition. During the lengthy election process, Philip Boedoro served as the interim president.

Category Five Cyclone Hits Vanuatu

A category five cyclone hits Vanuatu directly on March 14, 2015. Named Tropical Cyclone Pam, the storm carried heavy rainfall and damaging winds as strong as 168 miles per hour. At least 3,300 people sought shelter in 37 evacuation centers.

The following day, an official at the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that Cyclone Pam would likely be the South Pacific's worst natural disaster. “At least nine nations have experienced some level of devastation including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Tuvalu, and Papua New Guinea. Officials have yet to assess the damage in many of the hard-hit outer islands because communications and power remain cut,” the UN official said. As of March 17, the death toll from the cyclone was 11, according to the UN, but the number was expected to rise as the rescue effort continued.